


the calm (before the storm)

by biochemprincess



Series: (we won't go to war) we're getting away [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 16:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4571550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biochemprincess/pseuds/biochemprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Jemma's last day, before she goes home again. Charlotte gives her a farewell gift. [prequel to 'running our own way home']</p>
            </blockquote>





	the calm (before the storm)

**Author's Note:**

> Set before 'running our own way home'. Please let me know what you think about it. As always, you can find me @ mightyjemma.tumblr.com

The alarm of her borrowed cell phone went off, but Jemma was already awake. Her hands turned it off automatically, her gaze firmly fixed at the ceiling in the meanwhile.

Today was the day.

Jemma stood up from the mattress and changed into the clothes she had left there yesterday evening. Well, not she as in ‘herself’, but she as in her future version - the other Jemma, the Jemma that belonged into this time.

She dressed into a lavender - coloured t-shirt and jeans, which of course fit perfectly since they technically were her own. The pair of sneakers on the other hand actually belonged to Skye and was a little loose.

Today was the day.

Seven months had passed.

Seven months, during which she had learned of exciting and upsetting and terrifying news. This world had demanded so much of her. But it was bound to fall, one way or another. And wasn’t that the real problem?

She slipped out of her room quietly, so she didn’t wake up the other residents of the house. It wasn’t exactly easy. The floorboards squeaked under her feet. One of the windows was broken, only poorly fixed with a wooden board, and she could hear the cold wind howl outside.

Jemma switched on the coffee maker, just as broken as everything else around. But it still produced a decent filter coffee which was the only thing that mattered. She poured herself a cup and added enough sugar to make it drinkable.

Today was the day.

It was time to go home.

Her mind was somewhere far away, until the door to the former master bedroom opened and a pair of blue eyes peeked out of it. Jemma smiled and the sound of small feet came closer.

“Hi, Jemma.”

“Good morning, Charlie. Why are you up so early?”

The little blonde girl rubbed her still sleepy eyes and shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Charlotte then walked past Jemma and climbed up the kitchen counter, like a little monkey. She took a box of breakfast cereals out, jumped down again and raced to her seat at the dining table.

Jemma already knew the morning routine by now. She took a milk carton and a bowl, putting both in front of Charlie, having breakfast with her.

It still felt strange, to sit with her, to talk to her. She was reality here, a real living, breathing person. But Jemma would go back home, back to her time, where Charlotte was nothing but a hopeful possibility. Even after 7 months, she couldn’t wrap her head around it.

May and Skye had voiced some concerns at first, but Charlotte had adjusted to the second version of her mother remarkably well, better than Jemma herself, if she was completely honest. But the girl was exceptional in every way possible, so it came to no one’s surprise. Fitz and Jemma had been right, when they had told her the truth right away.

“Here.” Charlotte took a bracelet, an elastic band with plastic beads in pink and white strung on it, and placed it into her hand. “You can keep it.”

Jemma didn’t know how to respond. She simply gazed at her for a long moment. The tousled light blond hair, framing her face like a halo, made her look like an angel. Charlie smiled at her with the little cute tooth gap.

A warm feeling spread inside Jemma’s heart, an instinct as old as humanity. She wanted to protect this little girl, her little girl one day. She wanted her to have more than this scabby, too small house and the ever-present fear of being discovered by the enemy.

Jemma wanted her daughter to be safe. And she would succeed. There was no other option. Failing was not an option.

“But won’t you miss it?” she asked.

“You can give it back to me. When we meet again.”

Her eyes - so striking blue, exactly like Fitz’s - scrutinized her. They were so awake, so intelligent. Jemma was absolutely sure she had never met a child smarter and more understanding than Charlotte. Maybe she was biased, maybe, but she was also right.

“Thank you.” Jemma blinked back tears and smiled at her. Charlie smiled back before she continued to eat her cereals.

“I’ll miss you.” Charlotte said with her mouth full of Count Chocula.

“I’ll miss you too.”

They sat together in silence, watching the sun rise and the world wake up. The bedroom door opened and Fitz and Jemma emerged from it. It felt equally strange to see herself on a daily basis, but they had made it work.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

The two poured themselves a cup of coffee each and sat with them around the table. It was a heavy silence, only filled with the fear of everything that could go wrong. 

They’d break into a high security facility to get access to the stone. It was a dead dangerous mission, but it was the only way. Without the stone she couldn’t go home.

But they had a plan. If everything went according to the plan —

Even if everything went according to the plan, there was still a lot of work to do in her time. May’s list was safely secured in her pocket.

“Are you ready?” Fitz asked, looking directly at her.

_No, I’m not. But I have to be._

“Yes.”


End file.
